Georgia judge invalidates more election rules as early voting continues

A judge on Wednesday invalidated more of Georgia's recently passed election rules, adding new wrinkles in a state where the pace of early voting has already set records.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox Jr. said seven rules, including one that mandated hand-counts of votes and one that called for a "reasonable inquiry" before certifying election results, were "illegal, unconstitutional and void."

The rules, passed by the state's Republican-majority State Election Board, deal mostly with administrative processes after votes are cast. But critics worried the changes could have been used to delay or obscure vote results.

The judge wrote the board did not have the authority to set those rules and ordered the board to ensure that state election officials did not follow them.

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The ruling is a stricter version of one delivered Tuesday, when Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney blocked the hand-counting rule just for the 2024 election. He said it was "too much, too late" ahead of the election, which is now just weeks away.

Early voting is underway in Georgia. Officials said more than a quarter million people had voted by Tuesday, the first day of early in-person voting, and another 260,000 voted on Wednesday.